The present invention relates to an arrangement for transporting strip-shaped material in general, and particularly for transporting photographic paper or the like.
It is already known to construct an arrangement of this type as a holding element which consists of round elongated material, the holding element being capable of holding the strip-shaped material and having a width greater than or equal to that of the strip-shaped material. Such holding element is equipped with a U-shaped or C-shaped bracket rigidly connected thereto, the bracket being attachable to a conveyor belt.
In an arrangement of this general type, the strip-shaped material, such as a paper band, which is to be transported along a predetermined path, such as threaded through a machine, for instance, a developing machine or the like in the event that the paper band is a photographic paper strip, is connected to the holding element, and the holding element is then connected to or suspended from the conveyor belt in that the respective region of the conveyor belt is received in and/or braces itself against the C-shaped or U-shaped bracket. The strip-shaped material is then transported along the path of movement of the conveyor belt, for instance, through the machine, and thus threaded through such machine. At the end of the threading operation, the holding element is detached from the conveyor belt by a suitable disengaging arrangement, and the transporting arrangement can be manually disengaged from the strip-shaped material.
An arrangement of this type is known, for instance, from the German published patent application DE-OS No. 25 05 429. This transporting arrangement includes a receiving portion for the strip-shaped material which constitutes the above-mentioned holding member and which consists of round material which is bent in a hairpin-like fashion to obtain two adjacent sections which resiliently contact one another when the strip-shaped material is absent from the space between these two sections. One of these sections has an extension which is connected to the U-shaped or C-shaped bracket. When the transporting arrangement is constructed in the above-mentioned manner, there exists the danger that the arrangement will tilt relative to the conveyor belt or that the round material will be bent in the region of the attaching location when the forces needed for transporting the strip-shaped material are substantial. In addition thereto, the clamping action of the bent round material can decrease after an extended period of use of this transporting arrangement.